Deliverable # 2
Ervin Goffman
“Characteristics of Total Institutions”
Vs.
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
By: Eric Sawyer
Option #1

We live in a world with many different types of institutions. Some might care for mental problems, not being able to care for yourself or being at age when you cannot. There are also institutions that are organized to protect the community to so called intentional dangers. Some of the concepts we have discussed in class go hand and hand with the social context of Goffman’s total institutions. I will discuss the concepts of how institutions might hurt or help and the different concepts we have discussed in class relating to Coffman’s “Characteristics of Total Institutions”. Something that I analyzed in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest” is the false diagnosis of insanity. Mcmurphy’s sanity is symbolized through free spirit, positive laughter and just an over all around positive out look on life. In Coffman’s “Total Institutions”, it goes into “Adaption Alignments” and how this is a mortifying process of how inmates must adapt to the conditions that an institution might have such as privileges and consequences. Mcmurphy falls under the rebellious line, the characteristics that fall under this is how the inmate intentionally challenges institution by refusing to cooperate with staff in almost any way. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest, Mcmurphy demonstrates this in many ways, in the part were he broke two young ladies in the institution, or manipulating the Mr. Turkle to have the nighttime ward party. Mcmurphy always thought of someone than himself. Even though majority of his actions were selfish, it always ended with him looking out for someone in the book.
When a patient simply goes into an institute, they need to be helped and progressed into a new life and not constantly diminishing them or anything of that sort will result in a failure in treatment. A part in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, there is a scene when Billy Bibbet was speaking to Mcmurphy on how much he was going to miss him, when he was preparing to escape the institute and Billy was very curious on the young lady the book named “Sandy”. Mcmurphy sets up a little date for Billy. The party had came to a close and Nurse Ratched had everyone in front of her except for one and that was Billy. He was still in his room cuddled up with Sandy. Nurse Ratched brought Billy out and asked him why he did that. One thing that I noticed during this scene is that when Billy was confronted, his stutter went away. It makes sense for the reason why his stutter went away and that because he finally felt normal and did something that any person would do. Nurse Ratched using her power of authority, threaten Billy to tell his mom, and that was devastating to him. 10 minuets go by after Billy was taken back to his cell, a loud noise happened in his cell, everyone ran and opened the door to see that Billy had killed himself. In Goffman He speaks on “Culture Themes” and how many total institutions there is a strong feeling that time spent in the establishment is time wasted or destroyed or taken from one's life; it is time that must be written off. It is something that must be "done" or "marked" or "put in" or "built" or "pulled." . . . As such, this time is something that its doers have bracketed off for constant conscious consideration in a way not quite found on the outside. That scene is a clear example of something a person has not experience due to ones environment in this case institutionalized facilities. Throughout the course there were many concepts that we covered. When referring to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, there were a couple different types of interactions. When Billy killed himself, Mcmurphy became filled with hatred towards Nurse Ratched, to the point that his eye would flicker when he looked at her after the incident. He couldn’t take it anymore and lost all control and lashed out and Nurse Ratched and tried to strangle her and kill her. This is an direct example of how one can interpret the shaking of ones fist is signifying that the person is going to attack, this and the scene in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” illustrates symbolic interaction (Blumer 1966). In the beginning of the course we as a class were debating is one self-real? In the movie, Mcmurphy demonstrated an example of self-representation. Mcmurphy controlled the comfortability in the institute. If other patients were to see him broken or beaten then the others will loose a sense of hope when it comes to leaving this horrid place. Mcmurphy had went to the shock treatment table and came down pretending that he was brain dead and the other patients were in shock, because they looked up to him. Then right when you know it, he turns around and reveals to them that it was a joke and all the patients were ecstatic. Mcmurphy had to present himself a strong rebellious man in this environment and the other patients are drawn to that. Some self-representation result in interference that people make about their attitudes and depositions while watching and being observant of their own actions. (Marcus & Wurf 1987).
The institutions that we have today, I would want to hope that staff and doctors first goal is to help them rather keep them in the system and strip them of the normal characteristic that they may have still and not diminish it with medication and other forms of medically issued tactics that in the past people thought it will progress and help their illness. Patients like Mcmurphy a good for institutions, to throw a gear or 2 into the system. Throughout the movie he always look out for others than himself at times. He was giving them something the institution could not and that is a sense of “Being Normal”, doing normal things, laughing, having a good time with people around you, and at the same time have each other’s back in negative situations. Goffman’s really goes into the inner depths of the inmate and staff relationship. What I got from it is that staff members tend to fall into that authoritative position and soon start to forget about helping and fall more under the lines of controlling the inmates. If the first goal is the control the inmates rather than help, then we are feeding in this never-ending system.

References:
1. Goffman, E. (19731961). Asylums: essays on the social situations of mental patients and other inmates.. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co..

2. Forman, M. (Director). (19971975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest : Warner Home Video.

3. Literature Study Guides - SparkNotes - SparkNotes: Today's .... (n.d.). . Retrieved, from http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/lit/cuckoo/characters.html